


An Ectobiological Oopsie

by UnhelpfulPanda



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Friends to Lovers, I'm Bad At Titles, John has nightmares, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, casey is their daughter, domestic dads au, ectobiology abuse, john is still 17 but his birthday is coming soon, mentions of poly relationships, or as slow as i can manage lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2018-07-11 02:16:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7022503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnhelpfulPanda/pseuds/UnhelpfulPanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wrestling in the ectobiology lab should be an obviously bad idea, but John and Dave tend to overlook those types of bad ideas. Bad ideas make for bad mistakes, and sometimes bad mistakes give you big responsibilities. Like a baby, for instance.</p><p>Alternately Titled: John and Dave Fuck up and Make a Baby Together</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Babby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a babby is born

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly if you guys know me you know there will probably be more shippy stuff later on (and probably sex lmao) but for now its just drama and baby fluff.
> 
> (Yes, the baby is Casey because I'm not original. John reveals her name next chapter, and Dave is miffed at first but he gets to pick her middle name so that makes him feel better.)

            “So this is where you, like…made us?” Dave asked as they entered the ectobiology lab, eyes flitting from one machine to another in awe, or the coolkid equivalent of awe at the very least.

            “More like I pressed buttons like a jackass until suddenly there were eight babies,” John shrugged as he watched Dave go up to one of the big TVs. Dave began fiddling until he was viewing John in their current time on the TV. “When you were made, you literally screamed until I picked you up and rocked you. So, like, nothing has changed I guess,” John shrugged.

            Dave glared at the brunette. “Say what you will, but I have control of the viewport TV thing and I can go back to when you tripped on air earlier today,” Dave smirked, rewinding the viewport until he was viewing John eating shit, jumping up quickly and acting like nothing had happened.

            “You told me you didn’t see anything!” John shouted, cheeks turning pink. Dave shrugged.

            “I lied.”

            “Well there’s two viewports, so _I_ can go back to when you were picking your nose when you thought I wasn’t looking!” John replied with a malicious grin, going over and bringing up Dave on the second TV, rewinding just 20 minutes earlier when Dave had his finger up his nose.

            “I had an itch!” Dave cried out defensively.

            “Oh yeah? Was the itch on your brain? Because damn Dave, you got some depth there!” John snickered. A message popped up briefly saying ‘target locked’ on the screen. “Oh! Looks like we are going to have to watch you eating your boogers forever, now that the target is locked or whatever!” John laughed, pointing at the screen. Dave’s ears went scarlet.

            “Ok, fine, then I’m going back to when we wrestled earlier and you _definitely_ got a boner,” He huffed, rewinding to hours earlier when John had called off their impromptu wrestling match. The two watched as past John adjusted the growing bulge in his pants, face red in embarrassment and arousal.

            “It was an awkward boner! I couldn’t help it!” John screeched, face as red as his past self’s. The same message came up on Dave’s screen: target locked.

            “Oops, sorry dude but the target is locked now. I hope you didn’t choke the chicken in the bathroom because we are about to see it happen,” Dave sneered. John shoved the blonde, who of course shoved back. This started another wrestling match between the two teenagers.

            John gave a hard shove, causing Dave to stumble backwards into the buttons, his hand slamming down on a big blue button that had been pulsing lazily with light. All the lights in the lab began dimming and brightening rapidly, and the machines all began whirring loudly.

            “What did you do??” John shouted over the noise.

            “Me?? It was YOUR fat ass that shoved me into the control panel!” Dave yelled back. The machine noises were growing louder, and the control panel was lighting up frantically with various noises. There was a sudden flash of green light, and then everything hummed back to sleep. The lights went back to normal, both the viewports went black, and the lights on the control panel stopped lighting up at them.

            John and Dave exchanged nervous looks. “What the fuck was that?” Dave finally spoke up.

            “I don’t know,” John replied, ushering his friend to the exit, “But we better go before we fuck anything up for real.”

            Dave nodded. “Yeah, I just hope that didn’t do anything irreversible like zap everyone into cockroaches or-”

            Both boys froze in place suddenly. They slowly locked eyes. “That sounds like…”

            “Yeah, but it couldn’t be…”

            “Dave.”

            “John?”

            “Dave!”

            “John no-”

            “Dave, that’s a baby crying!” John shrieked. The two spun around to the source of the crying, and there was something squirming around on a platform across the room from them. John took a few hesitant steps forward and then flew as fast as he could with Dave chasing after him.

            The baby was red in the face from screaming, her tiny fists swinging erratically at her sides. She had a tuft of blonde hair atop her head and nothing else covering her. Dave undid his cape and swaddled the baby girl, carefully cradling her in his arms while John warned “hold her head!”

            The baby took a few hiccuped breaths and blinked her eyes up at the two teens, and they both took in sharp intakes of air. While the bit of hair she had was blonde like Dave’s, her eyes were the breathtaking bright blue John shared with her.

            John cooed and gently took her from the other’s arms, rocking her gently. The baby sighed happily and stuck her tiny thumb into her mouth, nuzzling against John’s chest. Her eyes fluttered closed again as she relaxed back into sleep.

            The two stared down at her in awe. Dave had even lifted his shades to see her clearly. John glanced over to his friend. “What now?” he whispered as quietly as he could.

            “Hell if I know,” Dave murmured back, “But I know someone who would.”

 

* * *

 

            Jane was humming to herself as she set the oven timer. She had about an hour to relax before her cookies were done. She was debating on going over to Roxy and Calliope’s place when there was a knock at her door. “Coming!” she called, though she was curious. Dirk and Jake had said they had other plans and wouldn’t be coming over. Had Roxy and Calliope come over to see her first? No one else really visited her that often.

            The door opened and there was her ectobiological brother and the younger Strider. “Hey Crocker, we have a bit of a problem…we need your help,” Dave greeted nervously.

            “Dave? John? What is-?” And then John was shushing her almost frantically. Jane blinked in astonishment, mostly because John was usually twice as loud as her at any given moment.

            Then she noticed the lump cradled in John’s arms and her jaw dropped. “Is that a baby?” She whispered fiercely.

            “I mean, yeah?”

            “As in like, a human child?”

            “As human as the rest of us,” Dave nodded, “I mean, us _humans_ , that is. Not the trolls because they are actually not human. Besides they don’t even have babies, they have wigglers or something.”

            “Wrigglers,” John corrected quietly.

            “Yeah, that.”

            “Where on Skaia did you find a human infant, and how??” Jane asked as she opened the door wider to let the two teens in.

            “Well, uh, we kind of…um…”

            “We made her,” John stated simply.

            “John put his dick in my butt and got me ass pregnant,” Dave lied.

            “No I did not!” John shouted, startling the baby in his arms. She immediately began to fuss, squirming in his arms. Jane held out her arms expectantly and John reluctantly handed her off.

            “What _actually_ happened, boys?” Jane asked as she bounced the baby gently to calm her.

            “We were playing around in the ectobiology lab and we hit a button and I guess it accidentally combined my DNA and Dave’s and then there was a baby crying and we didn’t know what to do so we brought her here,” John explained.

            “Well I hope you boys know that this child is _your_ responsibility, seeing as you are her fathers,” Jane huffed.

            “Don’t say it like that, it sounds so gay!” John complained.

            “That is literally the least of our problems, Egbert, we have a baby to take care of and we literally _just_ turned 18,” Dave pointed out.

            “I’m not even 18 yet! I can’t be a father, especially not with another dude!” John cried, throwing his arms in the air.

            “Stop centering on the homosexual part about it! We didn’t even have sex!” Dave shouted. “Not that it even matters, there is a baby here and no matter how she got here she’s _here_ ,” he grumbled.

            “How are you not even freaked out about this?!” John screeched, and Dave stomped up to him, a full foot taller than him.

            “You don’t think I’m freaking out?” He sneered. “I have no basis for parenting, John. The closest I can come to it is how Bro tortured and neglected me for thirteen years. How do I know I’m not going to fuck this baby up just as bad as Bro fucked me up?! I don’t know, John, I don’t know _ANYTHING_ , and being gay is the least of my problems because now I am responsible for a whole new human. If you could get your head out of your fucking ass for _TEN_ **_GODDAMN_** _SECONDS_ , you’d see that as well!” Dave shoved past the brunette to the front door, slamming it behind him.

            The baby in Jane’s arms started wailing loudly. “She’s probably hungry,” Jane explained, glancing at the front door worriedly. “You stay with her and I’ll go get Dave and go to the alchemizer to try to alchemize some baby stuff, alright?” Jane handed off the crying baby, grabbing a jacket and going to the door. “You should probably think of a name for her, you know. Anyways, bye! Keep an eye on my cookies!” Jane called as she ran out the door, waving as she went.

            John looked down at the baby, who was starting to go red in the face because she was so upset.

            “Great, what now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't worry, Dave is just scared and worried. Jane will make him and John apologize and make up.
> 
> John is still struggling a bit with his sexuality, but Dave knows he is bisexual. They've had weird crushes on each other for a couple years now, but neither will admit it (yet)


	2. Aye Papi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane gives them baby supplies and sends them on their way. A bit of fluff mixed with Dave being an asshole and torturing John

            Dave and Jane returned to Jane’s house to the pleasant smell of freshly baked chocolate cookies. John sat cross-legged with the baby in his lap, watching Con Air while the baby mouthed at a cookie.

            “What the hell, Egbert?! Babies can’t eat cookies!” Dave cried, pulling the baby from John’s lap and pulling the cookie from her. Dave glanced at the TV. “And why are you torturing her with Nic Cage’s ugly mug?” he added.

            “Hey! Casey _likes_ Nic Cage!” John huffed, pouting. Dave looked down at the baby girl in his arms and then up at John.

            “No.”

            “What do you mean ‘no’??” John cried, throwing his hands up in the air.

            “You are not naming our daughter after a character in that terrible barfbag of a movie,” Dave stated.

            “I think you don’t have a say in the matter,” John replied simply, taking Casey from Dave’s arms. “Her name is Casey and you can go choke on precisely seven dicks.”

            “Why do you get to name her? She’s not just your daughter!” Dave argued.

            “You stormed out yelling before you could name her so I took it upon myself. Also, you would probably think of a shitty name,” John glared at Dave. Dave was about to reply when Jane stepped between them.

            “Boys, boys! She is both of your daughter and you both should agree on what to name her!” Jane interrupted. “That being said; Dave, you _did_ leave the naming up to John on this one. But John didn’t give her a middle name, did he?” She asked. She gave John a meaningful look.

            “No, actually, I didn’t even think about it,” John mumbled. Casey held out her arms for Dave, which the blonde gladly accepted. “Did you, uh…did you have a particular name picked out?”

            Dave glanced at Casey, who cooed and blew a spit bubble. “I was thinking of the name Arwen…”

            “Casey Arwen? Like, Arwen from Lord of the Rings?” John snorted, then gave the other teen a more genuine smile. “I like it. It suits her.”

            The two boys spent a long time standing very close to each other, staring down at their daughter with love in their eyes and a smile on their faces. Jane almost didn’t want to ruin the moment, but they were having their moment in the middle of her living room and she wanted her house back.

            “Okay, you two. I alchemized a diaper bag with supplies. There are clothes in there, diapers, wipes, socks, a bib, a blanket, baby powder, a few pacifiers and bottles, baby formula, and a stuffed bunny that Dave said was yours. I washed it though because it was….really dirty and gross,” Jane explained.

            “I’ve got a crib and a rocking chair in my sylladex too,” Dave mentioned.

            “And I sent you and Dave some how-to videos on giving a baby formula, changing a diaper, and burping a baby,” Jane added.

            “Thanks, Jane. You really saved us,” John smiled, kissing his ectobiological sister on the cheek. She smiled warmly at him.

            “Any time, John. Now leave my house immediately.”

            John and Dave hurried out before she could get scary. They’ve seen her scary, and it wasn’t fun.

 

* * *

 

            Dave walked into the room they had chosen as Casey’s with a bottle in hand. John was rocking Casey in the rocking chair as she cooed and held his finger in her tiny fist. “Here,” he said as he handed the bottle over.

            “You checked to make sure it wasn’t too hot, right?” John asked.

            “Yeah, duh,” he replied, watching as John tested it on his own hand for good measure. “Egbert, I _just said_ I tested it,” he grumbled.

            “I know! I just wanted to make sure,” John huffed, popping the bottle into Casey’s mouth. Casey put her hands on the bottle as if she was trying to hold it herself, sucking on her bottle as she stared up at John. “You were so hungry, huh?” John said in a baby voice.

            “Don’t talk to her in a baby voice, you’re gonna give her a lisp,” Dave said as he got back to work trying to set up the crib.

            “My dad spoke to me in a baby voice,” John retorted with a glare.

            “And you had a _wittle bit of a wisp_ , didn’t you?” Dave teased. John pegged him in the head with a pacifier. “Yo! I have to wash that before we give it to Casey, you know!” Dave cried.

            “Shut up and keep _failing_ at putting the crib together,” John sneered back. They exchanged glares before Casey turned her head away from the bottle and distracted John. “Oh? You’re only halfway done, sweetheart, don’t you want more?” John asked her, frowning in concern.

            Casey turned her head the other way when he tried to give her the bottle back, kicking her legs and fussing. Dave cursed, drawing both of their blue eyes to him. “I can’t figure it out. Fuck this crib, just fuck it. Stick the entirety of the crib up my asshole and fuck me with it, Egbert,” Dave groaned, throwing down the crib piece he was holding.

            “Why must you always talk about things up your ass?” John grumbled, standing up and holding out Casey. “Here, get her to drink the rest of her bottle while _I_ handle the crib,” he ordered. The two teens switched places, Dave feeding Casey while John set up the crib.

            Within an hour, John had gotten the crib assembled (though not without his fair share of cursing and one instance of a bumped head). He turned to Dave to gloat and stopped dead in his tracks. Dave and Casey had both fallen asleep in the rocking chair while John was working. The empty bottle was hanging loosely from Dave’s left hand while his right arm cradled Casey against his chest. Both blonde’s had the same serene look on their face.

            John smiled softly at the scene before gently taking Casey from Dave’s hold. Dave’s brow furrowed, almost as if he could feel the absence of his daughter’s presence against him. John tucked Casey in and put her stuffed bunny beside her, and then turned to his best friend.

            “Dave,” he whispered, shaking Dave’s arm lightly. “Dave, wake up,” he said only a bit louder, nudging Dave. Dave startled awake, looking down at his arms where Casey had been and beginning to panic when he found she wasn’t there. “Relax, shitsniffer, she’s in the crib,” John snorted. Dave breathed a sigh of relief, sagging in the rocking chair. “You up for flying home?” he asked, and Dave didn’t answer. John frowned, taking the shades from Dave’s face and earning a halfhearted swat to his hands. Dave was already going back to sleep. “Dave, you’re gonna hurt your back if you sleep like that.”

            “Don’t wanna move,” Dave mumbled.

            “Can I at least move you to the couch?” John sighed.

            “Bed,” Dave retorted, then held out his arms. “Carry me.”

            “No fucking way,” John deadpanned.

            “Carryyyy meeee,” Dave whined, pouting.

            “Don’t be a pissbaby, Dave, get up by yourself,” John hissed.

            “’m your babymama though, y’gotta be nice t’me,” Dave slurred in his half asleep stupor.

            “Fine, I’ll carry you if you never call yourself my babymama,” John groaned with a roll of his eyes.

            “No promises,” Dave retorted, holding out his arms. John picked him up bridal style, carrying him to his own bed.

            “I cannot believe I’m sharing a bed with you after you called yourself my babymama,” John muttered as he set the blonde down gently despite the urge to throw him down.

            “Can always sleep on the couch, babydaddy,” Dave suggested back.

            “Okay no, I _will_ smother you if you say that again,” John glared at the mostly asleep boy.

            “Papa John.”

            “Quit it!”

            “Father Egbert.”

            “I’m going to kill you.”

            “Aye Papi~!”

            “Don’t! You are _way_ too white for that!” John whisper-shouted, hitting Dave in the face with a pillow. Dave hugged it to his chest, rolling over. “Ugh, whatever. Goodnight, Dave,” he sighed, laying down beside him in bed.

            “Buenas noches, Papi.”

            “ _Strider_.”

            “Si?”

            “Go to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> canon for this AU: John is half Mexican (I haven't decided his other half but I'm thinking Chinese), and he can understand and even speak Spanish but never does. Dave, on the other hand, is a white guy and can only speak a bit of Spanish but learned just enough to torture John.
> 
> by the way, "up for flying home" is literal, they are god tier and can literal fly places (though they get tired if they fly too much) and everyone's houses are just far enough that they can't walk there but can fly there (with the exception of Roxy and Calliope's house and Jane's house)


	3. It's Not Like They Are In Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk and Jake meet little Casey. Dirk also sheds light on to the relationships of some of the other characters. (DirkJake, JaneRoxyCalliope- Jane, Roxy, and Calliope are poly girlfriends)
> 
> Also, a bit further into the relationship between John and Dave and a brief mention of Gamzee and Caliborn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> REUPLOAD PSA, [ PLEASE READ THIS ](http://transmansylveon.tumblr.com/post/155285338308/) IF YOU ARE A RETURNING READER 
> 
> it's totally fine if you don't like poly JaneRoxyCalliope. Just know that it's pretty much canon, as per snapchat upd8s. Sorry not sorry. 
> 
> Not liking DirkJake is also fine, the fanfic centers on Dave and John and little baby Casey.
> 
> I never explicitly said, but this is about a month after Casey's initial appearance/birth/whatever. and if it seems like she's growing fast, I direct you to Hussie's own interpretation of newborn ectobiological babies. Maybe ecto babies grow faster? Who knows, ask him not me
> 
> also a brief mention of Gamzee and Caliborn, who are not on Earth C but still in what's left of the Game, on the other side of the door.

            “So run it by me again,” Dirk questioned. John and Dave let out matching groans of frustration, almost drowned out by Casey’s delighted squealing from the other room.

            “We were messing around with the viewports to see each other from earlier in the day, the computer said “target locked”, we fought, Dave hit a button-”

            “You fucking _pushed me into it_!”

            “-all the lights were flashing and the machines were making weird sounds and then there was a green flash and boom! There she was,” John explained, for probably the third time.

            Dirk was silent for a few moments as he furrowed his brows in thought. From the other room, Jane warned, “Jake! Don’t throw her so high up!”

            “Can you not throw my infant daughter, English? ‘You break it you buy it’ doesn’t really apply in this situation, you know,” Dave called out to Jake.

            “Oh, poppycock, I barely tossed her. Besides, the little tyke likes it!” he called back, and Casey squealed in excitement again.

            “There were only two ports, then?” Dirk asked, and John nodded. “And the blue button, that was what you hit to start everything?”

            “Is there a reason you want to know the exact process of how to make a baby?” Dave countered, narrowing his eyes behind his shades at his older ectobiological brother. At this, Dirk’s cheeks turned a rosy pink hue, though his face remained impassive.

            “There’s no reason; I just like to know how things function. Just in case of emergencies, you know,” he explained. Dave gave him an unimpressed look.

            “Really? You think I’m a moron?” he replied in disbelief, crossing his arms over his chest in irritation. Dirk glanced over his shoulder to the other two residents and muttered something to himself, turning back to Dave and John.

            “Okay, look. Jane didn’t want to tell anyone until it was the right time, but she isn’t exactly single,” he began.

            “We know she’s dating Jake,” Dave responded at the same time John chipped in, “We know she’s dating you.” They looked at each other in confusion.

            “Dude, he’s gay,” Dave pointed out.

            “He doesn’t like labels, remember?” John retorted.

            “Okay, but label or no, he’s a flaming homosexual,” Dave shot back. They looked to Dirk for clarification.

            “Neither of your guesses are true,” Dirk said as if that was clarification. At the looks of confusion on their faces, he groaned and continued. “She’s not dating either of us. We’re dating each other. _She_ is dating Roxy. And Calliope. Both. At the same time.”

            “She’s gay??” John inquired.

            “I don’t know!" Dirk threw his hands in the air in exclamation. "I walked in on her half naked in Roxy and Calliope’s bed. She said it just happened,” Dirk shrugged, seemingly flustered about revealing secrets that weren’t his own to other people. “She said that she’s not exactly gay, she just loves Roxy and Calliope and doesn’t care that she’s not usually into women. You get it?” he asked.

            “No, but continue,” Dave responded. Dirk rolled his eyes.

            “Well, I can’t help you understand someone else’s sexuality. Anyways, since Casey’s arrival…birth…? Roxy and Jane have been talking about kids more lately. Not now, of course, but in the future. The thing is, they don’t want to exclude Calliope. I told them that it’s pretty much impossible for all three of them to combine their DNA into one baby, but I felt bad about turning them down. I mean, who am I to say that it’s truly impossible? Previously, it was impossible to have children without a man and a woman and pregnancy and all that bullshit...” Dirk trailed off. “I guess I’m just trying to see if there’s a way to tweak the machines to get them to do what I want,” Dirk finished.

            “…Is there?” John finally asked.

            “I mean, yeah there could be a way. If I were to modify it to lock on three different codes, maybe? Or maybe I could combine two targets into genetic material and then lock onto that and the third target? But that would require research into the buttons and what they mean. Maybe if I…” Dirk began mumbling to himself, calculating things as both John and Dave lost interest.

            Suddenly, the microwave timer went off. John went to get Casey’s bottle, testing to make sure it wasn’t too hot, and then the three of them moved into the other room.

            Jake had switched from tossing Casey into the air to peek-a-boo at Jane’s request. He laid on the floor, covering his head. Casey would stare at his head, sometimes reaching out and patting him, and then he would quickly lift his head and go “boo!” Casey would giggle and kick her feet in joy, and then the process would begin again.

            “Casey needs her bottle and then to be put down for a nap,” John announced. Jake made a childish noise of complaint.

            “Just a wee bit longer, ol chap!” he pleaded. John shook his head no.

            “Casey gets cranky and fussy when she doesn’t get her bottle and a nap at the right times, and we already are almost an hour behind her normal bottle time,” John explained.

            “Oh come off it, John! She doesn’t need to follow the same schedule every single day, does she??” Jake attempted to dispute. John crossed his arms firmly and shook his head again.

            “The answer is no, English. You can come back another time,” he insisted. Dirk snorted and shook his head, intervening with a gesture to the door.

            “Come on, Jake, you heard Mama Egbert. We’ll come by to have another playdate soon,” he said.

            “Don’t call me ‘Mama Egbert’!” John snapped. Dirk held up his hands in defense and shot Dave a smirk.

            “Alright, we’re going. Tell your housewife not to get his panties in a twist,” he teased. John made a move to throw the bottle at him and he chuckled and was ushered out by Jane, Jake being dragged along reluctantly after them. John rolled his eyes and went to get Casey when Dirk ducked back in.

            “What now?” John groaned.

            “Chill, I just wanted to tell you two not to mention to anyone I said anything about Jane’s dating arrangement to you. The only other people who know are me and Rose,” he explained.

            “Yeah, we’ll keep it on the DL, broski,” Dave agreed. Dirk gave him a fistbump and then left, hopefully for good this time.

            “Thank fucking god they’re gone and I have my house back,” John groaned. He glanced at Dave. “Well, mostly.”

            Dave took the bottle and picked up Casey to feed her, suspiciously avoiding looking up from the task. “I wanted to talk about that,” he finally spoke up.

            “Talk about what?” John asked, confused.

            “Well, my pad is pretty far off, so if I go home I won’t be around in case something happens,” Dave began.

            “Like what, Dave? The game is over. Earth C is safe. I mean, relatively. We still have the murderous fridge clown troll around. And Calliope’s shithead murderface brother,” he explained.

            “I know everything is mostly safe, but every time I’m away from her I just feel so…” he trailed off.

            John paused his cleaning after his guests and turned to look fully at the blonde. “Incomplete?” he finished for the other. Dave looked up, surprised, and John shrugged. “We spend a lot of time with her; she’s our baby and it’s only natural to want to always be by her side, to the point where not being with her feels wrong,” John explained.

            “Are you speaking from personal experience?” Dave inquired. John shrugged.

            “I’m saying that if you want a key to the house, I’ve already made one for you,” he explained.

            “And what about…” Dave stopped for a moment, then began again, “what about possibly letting me move in with you?”

            At this John paused, thinking it over with a small frown. “Ah… I’ll have to think about that one a bit more. It seems a little too… couple-y, you know?”

            Dave nodded, a bit dejected. Casey finished her bottle and snatched it from his hands, throwing it down decisively. He sighed softly and moved to burp her.

            “That’s not a definite ‘no’, though. She _is_ your daughter too, so its not exactly ludicrous that you would want to live in the same house as her,” John added quickly, noting how put out Dave had become. “We would have to move things around some if you did move in. I mean, you can’t sleep in my bed forever.”

            “Why not?” Dave responded as he went to go put Casey down for a nap. “We’re just bros, and you just happen to have a more comfortable bed than a couch,” he shrugged.

            “I guess you’re right. It’s not like we are in love with each other, right?” John reasoned, nodding to himself. Dave paused, staring down into Casey’s crib.

            “……right,” he mumbled to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "......right." me @ me: wtf the fuck???
> 
> anyways, I wanted to kind of make a point of hinting that they do actually have feelings for each other. I mean, it seems like John is oblivious and Dave is hinting at his feelings, but John actually does have feelings for Dave. He's just a dumdum and hasn't realized it yet.
> 
> There will be more on John's feelings later. Like, probably next chapter. I have a plot for a bit of drama but I feel like its a bit too early to implement drama.


	4. Anger and Fear, Nightmares Be Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John has a nightmare about Dave dying, and wakes up to find that both Dave and Casey aren't in the house with him. His panic and fear turn to anger when the Strider returns, and Dave teaches us a lesson on John Egbert and anger.
> 
> Anger is a reaction to other emotions, whether they be fear, sadness, helplessness, or frustration. When John gets scared, he gets angry, he gets destructive, and he gets downright cruel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: a single usage of the r-slur, though used in the "stunted" definition (aka "emotionally stunted"). I felt that a fair warning that it is there was necessary, but I forgot to put the warning here at first. OOPS!
> 
> a bit of drama for you! I meant to have something silly and fun here, but I ended up with a bit of drama, though not nearly as much as what's in store for you later hehehe. Next chapter will be more lighthearted
> 
> Also, I have the headcanon that John doesn't cry as much as he destroys. When he's hurt or scared, he lashes out at the person and says cruel things that he would never say otherwise in an effort to hurt them and deflect from his own emotions. Afterwards he is filled with Regret.
> 
> I also have the headcanon that John has frequent nightmares. In fact, there will probably be more instances of nightmares later on.

            John jolted upright in bed with a startled gasp. He had that nightmare again; the one where he’s holding an injured Dave in his arms and his godtier powers won’t work. He tries desperately to use his wind powers and will himself to fly, but the wind refuses to bend to his will. They are in the middle of nowhere and he needs to get Dave some help but he doesn’t know where to go and can’t fly there regardless. All the while Dave grows more and more weak, his eyes more unfocused, and the dream always ends with Dave going limp in John’s arms.

            John hadn’t had the nightmare in quite some time; not since Casey was born, at least. Before the dream disturbed him, but he could always brush it off and go back to bed. Maybe it was because he saw Dave every day now that the dream made him feel panicked, but he turned in bed to see his friend sleeping beside him. Maybe seeing him okay would calm John enough that he could return to sleep.

            Only, Dave wasn’t there. “Dave?” he called, listening for a moment for the knight’s reply, but he heard nothing. “Dave?!” he called louder, jumping out of bed and hurrying towards the bedroom door. He poked his head out but the bathroom light wasn’t on, so he probably hadn’t gotten up to use the bathroom. Maybe he was in the room with Casey?

            John forced himself not to run to his daughter’s bedroom. Casey had probably woken up crying and Dave had gone to take care of her, he reasoned. But when he stepped into the room, Dave wasn’t there either. And neither was Casey.

            “Dave! Casey!” he called frantically, running into the living room. They weren’t there watching TV, and they weren’t having a nighttime snack in the kitchen, either. John’s panic rose until he could hardly breathe. His eyes began to tear up as the fear made his mind race. Where had his best friend gone?? Where had his baby gone??

            John thought of all the hostiles that could have hurt them. Gamzee and Caliborn, namely, though some of the newer trolls were quite dangerous, not to mention humans and carapaces and, rarely, even consorts. Earth C wasn’t exactly a utopia where nothing bad ever happened, after all. And while he didn’t think that most of the population would actually enter the home of one of the Creators, never mind _attack_ one of them, it wasn’t impossible.

            John whipped around at the sound of the front door opening. “Dave??” he called hopefully. Dave entered the house, eyebrows raised at the sight of John awake and in the living room. He had Casey in one arm, sleeping soundly.

            “Shit, did I wake you? I’m sorry bro, I tried to be quiet but-” Dave started to apologize.

            Something snapped within John. “Where the fuck were you?!” he shouted. Casey jolted and began to fuss.

            “Aw man, dude, I _just_ got her to sleep, what the hell-?” Dave began to complain.

            “I don’t care! Where the fuck did you go at 2 in the fucking morning?!” John shouted. Casey began to cry.

            “I just flew around for a while, what’s your problem??” He demanded, John’s hostility making him defensive. “Casey woke up from a nightmare and I couldn’t get her to sleep again, so I went flying around with her hoping that the night air would make her sleepy. Which, it _did_ , but then you woke her up!” he explained.

            “You could have left a note!” John snarled, baring his teeth. Dave gave him an odd look and then walked past him into Casey’s room. “I woke up and no one else was here! I didn’t know where Casey or you were!” he yelled as he followed the blonde into the baby’s room.

            Dave laid Casey down in her crib. She had stopped crying, but she looked worried, glancing from Dave to the doorway where John was still yelling. “Lower your voice, Egbert,” Dave ordered, tucking Casey in and leaving the room.

            John did lower the volume of his voice, but he still was whispering angrily as he followed Dave back into the bedroom they shared. Dave stayed silent as John continued on furiously. He watched John’s movements carefully, which only made John angrier.

            “Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?? I woke up all alone in the house, Dave! Something bad could have happened to you and Casey for all I know!” He whispered fiercely.

            “Is that why you’re so mad? Because you were scared?” Dave finally spoke up, tilting his head curiously. John clenched his teeth.

            “No! I’m mad because I’m mad!” he huffed.

            “Anger is only a reaction to other emotions, Egbert, you know that better than anyone,” Dave sighed.

            “What does that mean??” John snapped, arms crossed defensively.

            “It means that when you get sad or scared, you get angry. You yell and destroy things and avoid what _really_ is bothering you. I know you, John. I’ve known you since we were ten, and you’ve pulled this shit all your life,” Dave explained, rolling his eyes.

            “I _do not_ ,” John hissed. “Just because _you_ are emotionally retarded because your bro hit you one too many times in the head, doesn’t mean everyone else is,” he added, not even thinking of how cruel his jab had been until he watched Dave’s lips tighten. John blinked in surprise. “Dave, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said something like that,” he apologized.

            “That’s exactly what I was talking about, though. You don’t want to talk about what’s got you so angry, so you lash out at me and act like a fucking prick,” Dave retorted, hands on his hips. John shifted his gaze to his bare feet. “What happened, John?” Dave asked again, his voice more gentle.

            “I woke up all alone,” John repeated softly, sitting down on the edge of the bed and avoiding Dave’s gaze. Dave remained silent, knowing there was something more to it than that. “I had a nightmare…” he admitted, so quietly that sound almost didn’t leave his moving lips.

            Dave sat beside him, and the warmth of his body against John’s side reminded him of the Dave in his dream, cold and frail with dull eyes that couldn’t focus on his. Hesitantly, he relayed the nightmare to the blonde, avoiding looking at him in embarrassment. Dave wrapped an arm around him and pulled his head forward to rest against his chest. John sighed in annoyance and went to move, but froze in place when he heard the rhythmic beat of Dave’s heart.

            Dave wrapped his arms loosely around the brunette, content to sit there and just _be alive_ for as long as John needed him. He didn’t expect John’s frame to begin trembling, nor did he foresee the quiet sobs or the damp spot on his clothes. “It’s okay, John. I’m right here,” he murmured softly, hand coming to rest on John’s head.

            “I had that nightmare all the time before Casey, so I don’t know why I’m so freaked out _now_ ,” John sniffled, finally wiggling out of Dave’s arms to scrub at the wet tracks on his face in irritation. Dave tsk’d and knocked John’s hands aside, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe more gently at the tears on the other’s face.

            John couldn’t stop staring at Dave’s eyes; the bright ruby irises focused on drying his face. Dave caught his eyes and froze, hand still against John’s face. They stared at each other for a moment too long before Dave cleared his throat.

            “Yeah, so, we should get to sleep,” he mentioned, cheeks flushed in embarrassment. John nodded quickly, his own face red and flustered as well. They laid down with their backs to each other, and only after John was sure Dave was asleep again did he roll over to stare at the back of Dave’s head, perplexed.

            Something had happened when their eyes had met, a surge of energy that shocked its way through John and settled very peculiarly right in his heart. He didn’t really know what it meant, but he knew that it belonged there. Maybe it had been there all along, lying dormant until Dave’s eyes activated it?

            John didn’t know, and he didn’t have time to ponder it either, because Casey was crying from the other room again. He focused on getting his daughter to sleep, putting all thoughts of Dave and him aside.

            For now, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyyyy! let's get this johndave jumpstarted! .....okay no it's gonna be a slow buildup but here's some good hinty hinty good stuff!
> 
> John "What Is Love Baby Don't Hurt Me" Egbert
> 
> anyways, next chapter will probably be featuring Roxy, Jane, and Calliope!


	5. The Zoo (part 1/2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxy, Calliope, and Jane drag the boys and Casey to Earth C's new zoo. Or, well, one of the new zoos. Wildlife has to be repopulated somehow, right? They insist on taking Casey with them to give John and Dave a break, but can the worrywort parents stand to be away from their baby for a few hours? And without Casey or the girls as a buffer, can the boys manage being alone together for a few hours?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyy, here I am with the new chapter. It started getting a bit too long, so I chopped it in half. Here's part one! I haven't finished part two yet, but I know where I'm going with it so I will hopefully be done sometime very soon (as in, within a few days type of soon)

            Jane had the decency to warn them that she was visiting with Roxy and Calliope, though she only gave them an hour. “You’d best be ready to leave the house when we get there, buster!” she advised sternly before hanging up on John. John sighed, pulling himself sluggishly out of bed. Dave was still asleep, so he grabbed the blankets and snatched them away.

            “Nnnnnoooooo!” Dave whined, barely conscious. He made grabby hands in the direction his blankets had gone.

            “Yyyyeeeeeessss,” John whined back mockingly, dropping the blankets where Dave couldn’t reach them. “Jane, Roxy, and Calliope are coming over for some reason. They’ll be here in an hour, and I’ve been told we need to be ready to leave the house before they arrive,” he explained as he bustled around the room getting ready.

            Dave made a dismissive sound and hugged his pillow, already going back to sleep. John rolled his eyes and went to the bathroom to begin his morning routine. On the way back to his bedroom, he made a short detour to the kitchen. Dave was, predictably, still not up when he returned. He wasn’t wearing a nightshirt, but his pajama bottoms would serve John’s purpose. He tugged on the top of Dave’s pajama pants and threw about three ice cubes down the blonde’s pants.

            Dave squealed at the sudden cold, jumping up. John cackled gleefully, not even minding when Dave shoved at him in retaliation. Then Dave dropped his pants and John quickly turned around, not expecting an ice cube to hit him in the back of the head. “Hey!” he cried, “That’s gross, those were in your pants!” Dave scoffed.

            “You’re just jealous it wasn’t you,” he shot back as he used his godtier powers to instantly dress himself, a pair of camo cargo shorts and a loose red tank top, with his favorite red converse as always. The only thing he manually put on were his signature shades, sliding them easily onto his face.

            “You’re so lazy,” John jeered, rolling his eyes and going to get Casey ready as well. “Also! You totally copied what I’m wearing!” he called accusingly as an afterthought, as he had chose to wear his own camo shorts, except paired with his superman logo t-shirt and his ratty sneakers.

            “Aw, don’t be like that; we’ll be like those obnoxious couples that match all their outfits when they go out,” Dave replied simply. “In fact, let’s get some camo on Casey, too,” he suggested.

            “We _aren’t_ a couple, dunkass, and Casey only has a camo hat,” John retorted. Dave shrugged, watching John set out Casey’s outfit, a little yellow sundress with light blue polka dots on the lower part and matching blue shoes. Despite his complaints about matching, he did add in her camo hat, as well. “Would you go pack up the diaper bag while I’m dressing Casey? I don’t know where we are going or for how long, so just pack for a full day, okay?” John delegated. Dave gave him a lazy salute and did as he was told.

            They had just finished setting up the baby stroller, even though Casey usually sat in the baby carrier strapped to Dave’s front anyways, when the girls arrived. Roxy squealed in delight, coming up to see Casey. “Hi, sweetie! I’m your Auntie Roxy!” she greeted excitedly. Casey shyly hid her face in John’s neck.

            “Wouldn’t you be, like, ‘Grandma Roxy’?” Dave commented, yelping when he was pinched for said comment. “I was joking, ow, jesus fuck…” he mumbled in complaint.

            “Callie, come here! You’ve never seen a human baby before, right?” Roxy called excitedly, waving Calliope over. Calliope stepped forward hesitantly.

            “Oh, um, I would love to meet her, but I don’t want to… scare her…” Calliope explained, gesturing to her face as example. But before anyone could reply, Casey made a demanding noise and held out her arms towards the cherub.

            John laughed. “I don’t think you have to worry about that, Callie,” he chuckled as he handed the baby over to a startled Calliope.

            “Oh! Hello, then!” Calliope greeted with a laugh, and Casey papped her skeletal face with a bit of happy baby babble. “Yes, I agree,” she nodded sincerely, even though she hadn’t a clue what the infant had said. Casey giggled happily.

            “So where are we going on this outside excursion, anyways? Anywhere in particular?” John commented idly as he gathered up their things.

            “We’re going to the zoo!” Roxy answered excitedly.

            “We got wind of a joint effort towards reintroducing old wildlife into Earth C, and while they are increasing their numbers, they need to be monitored. It was only natural to open viewing them to the public, hence the zoo,” Jane explained. “The location we are visiting only has 25% of Earth creatures, but there are three other locations for the rest of them, along with two locations for Alternian wildlife,” she added.

            “Alternia had much less wildlife, but what they do have are… quite monstrous,” Calliope mentioned, handing Casey off to Dave so he could strap her into the baby carrier strapped to his chest. Dave scoffed.

            “And the trolls themselves aren’t?” he quipped.

            “That’s xenophobic,” John huffed, shooting Dave a disapproving look.

            “Dave is problematic,” Roxy pseudo-whispered, “Nobody tell him.”

            “We should probably hit the road now!” Jane announced, gesturing to the door. Roxy let Calliope climb onto her back, grinning.

            “One piggyback for the cutest cherub in all of paradox space!” Roxy announced. She gestured for John and Dave to leave before her, surreptitiously snatching Casey’s camo hat as Dave passed her.

            Roxy slyly tossed it behind her, further into the house, and whispered to Calliope, “Like hell was I gonna let Casey go out wearing that with the rest of her outfit. Men have no sense of fashion, ugh.” Calliope stifled a laugh.

* * *

 

            “I should have known it was those goobers who kickstarted this zoo thing,” Dave snorted, gesturing to the billboard giving credit for the DNA of most of the animals to Jake and Jade, Jade giving her ecto-relative a noogie in the image the billboard used.

            “I know they were into hunting and taxidermy, but how did they get the other animals’ DNA?” John asked, cocking his head to one side in confusion. Calliope and Jane giggled, whispering to each other. “What?” he asked, eyebrows furrowing.

            “Roxy used her Void powers for the DNA of pretty much every animal, in all the zoos, but she asked to remain anonymous,” Jane grinned, gesturing to their blonde and pink haired girlfriend. Roxy gave her an exasperated look.

            “And look how well that turned out, right Janey?” she answered sarcastically. Jane returned a sheepish smile, shrugging.

            Suddenly Casey let out a shout, pointing urgently at a dog one of the zoo workers was leading around as a sort of teaser for what was inside. After all, even the domestic animals went extinct when the Earth was destroyed, so pets like dogs and cats needed to be repopulated as well. John grinned, leaning down to see her better and pointing at the dog as well. “That’s a dog, Casey! Isn’t it so nice and fluffy?” he told her excitedly. She made another insistent noise, pointing at the dog and then reaching above her head to hit Dave in the face.

            “I think she wants to pet the dog, Egbert,” Dave snickered, trying to avoid her little hand flapping around trying to hit him. There was, of course, a fee for petting the dog, but Dave was willing to dole out an extra $50 to let his daughter pet one of the only dogs in the goddamn world. Plus, the dog’s handler recognized them as the Creators and gave them a $20 discount, so he only had to pay $30 as long as the worker got a selfie with them and bragging rights _after_ they enjoyed their time at the zoo. After all, it’s not really that fun being stared at and swarmed by star-struck mortals while you’re trying to enjoy yourselves somewhere…

            Speaking of star-struck, Casey pet the dog with wide, mystified blue eyes, absolutely dazzled by seeing her very first dog. Or her first animal in general, really. “She’s seen them in movies, but I guess its different being able to touch them!” John laughed, noting that she was still reeling from the interaction, mouth agape as she stared at her baby hand.

            “Wait until she sees all the other animals!” Jane shot back happily, leading them to the ticket booth. The girls insisted that they would pay for John, Dave, and Casey’s tickets, leaving no room for arguing. John and Dave just shrugged at each other and let it happen, because they didn’t actually have any other choice.

            Jane snatched up a map and the girls began planning out where they wanted to go, pointing at certain places and noting where they could take breaks to feed or change Casey’s diapers. “I guess we are just at the girls’ mercy, right Dave?” John grinned, elbowing Dave playfully. Calliope blinked up at them, confused.

            “Oh no, you don’t have to come with us!” She explained. “After all, this is also meant to be a break for you!”

            “What? A break?” John sat up straight, looking at his ectobiological relative for an explanation. “Jane, what is she talking about?”

            “Lalonde, you better explain your meddlesome lesbian plans right now,” Dave warned, hands on his hips. Jane laughed a bit uneasily and Roxy shrugged, while Calliope looked between the two of her girlfriends with wide, bewildered eyes.

            “We just thought you two needed a short vacation from parenting,” Roxy began, taking Casey from the carrier on Dave’s chest.

            “After all, you were thrust into your roles with no warning, and we don’t really think you’ve had any opportunities to relax!” Jane interjected as she helped Calliope set up the stroller.

            “It’s not that long of a time apart; just a few hours-” Roxy added as she eased the diaper bag off John’s shoulder, before Dave interrupted.

            “A few _hours_??” He repeated with distress clear in his voice.

            “We assure you, Casey will be safe with us. We will return her to you without so much as a scratch on her!” Jane reassured, patting Dave’s face lightly.

            “Well what are _we_ supposed to do then?” John asked, already wringing his hands as he watched Roxy strap Casey into her stroller.

            “Just relax! Hang out!” Roxy called dismissively. “You two deserve some alone time together!” She added as they began to quickly leave.

            “Alone time??”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alone time~? *eyebrow waggle*
> 
> I'm kidding, this is a slow burn. Or as close to slow as I can manage (which is to say, not all that slow)
> 
> But yes, part two will have more JohnDave stuff, albeit only a small amount. Plus, some of their godtier powers in action!
> 
> EDIT: oops! forgot to mention! even though Dave calls Roxy a lesbian, none of them are lesbians. Roxy is pansexual, Jane is demisexual, and Calliope is a cherub with no concept of sexual orientation (but if she DID, she would be considered a lesbian)


	6. The Zoo (part 2/2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxy, Calliope, and Jane drag the boys and Casey to Earth C's new zoo. Or, well, one of the new zoos. Wildlife has to be repopulated somehow, right? They insist on taking Casey with them to give John and Dave a break, but can the worrywort parents stand to be away from their baby for a few hours? And without Casey or the girls as a buffer, can the boys manage being alone together for a few hours?
> 
> (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said part 2 would be out within a few days of part 1, and I'm sosososo sorry it wasn't. I got very sick and couldn't do much more than sleep (or try to) or cry from the pain I was in. I'm finally recovering enough to actually start to return to my daily routine. I hope you enjoy part 2, and I'm sorry again for the delay!

            “Just relax! Hang out!” Roxy called dismissively. “You two deserve some alone time together!” She added as they began to quickly leave.

            “Alone time??” John cried out, but the three girls and his daughter were already rounding a corner and disappearing from his sight. He sighed in defeat, visibly deflating as if he were a balloon. He glanced over at Dave, arms crossed over his chest and avoiding looking back at him. John kicked a random rock, pouting and surveying the surrounding food carts in disinterest.

            Suddenly, he perked up, the movement so sudden it startled the blonde beside him. He grabbed Dave’s hand excitedly. “Are you hungry? Of course you’re hungry, food is super important, right? And we haven’t eaten yet so we need food because food is good; I’m paying!” John rambled on quickly, talking so fast Dave barely had enough time to process what he was saying, let alone actually _respond_ to him, before he was being led off by the hand.

            Dave couldn’t understand why the brunette was so damn excited until John stopped right in front of a food stall with a huge smiling apple as their logo. “ _You like apples? We’ve got apples! Eve’s Apples; if it’s got apples in it, we sell it_!” the sign in front of the stall boasted. Dave attempted to keep his face impassive, but with John beaming at him so proudly, he couldn’t help the upwards quirk of his lips.

            “Damn, John, you really know how to woo a gal,” Dave whistled appreciatively. John’s cheeks flushed and he shoved lightly at the blonde. Dave smirked and continued, “You sure you want to buy? I can eat a lot, dude. Especially if there are apples in it.”

            “I’ll buy you so much apple foods that you’ll be all apple’d out by the time you’re done!” John challenged. Never one to back down from a challenge, Dave stepped forward and ordered pretty much most of the menu. The troll taking his order looked downright terrified. Who is this apple fiend?? Can he be stopped??

            A caramel apple, a slice of apple pie, a cup of applesauce, an apple muffin, a bottle of apple cider, a bottle of apple juice, and an abomination called an ‘apple milkshake’ later, John was staring at Dave in disbelief while the Strider stretched with a groan.

            “You frighten me sometimes, Strider. How the fuck did you pack all that food away and not get sick??” John inquired, eyeing the blonde’s thin frame critically.

            “Are you calling me fat, Egbert? I’m offended,” Dave replied, not sounding offended in the slightest. “Alright, I’ll give it to ya; I am sincerely ‘all apple’d out’, dude,” he added with a shrug.

            “Yes! I _told you_. How do you like them apples??” John cackled smugly. Dave gave him the most deadpan look he could manage, even lowering his shades for maximum effect. “Aww, come on! That was hilarious!” he whined, throwing up his hands. Dave let out a derisive snort as he tossed his trash in a nearby trashcan.

            There was really not much either of them wanted to do. They never outright said it, but this zoo was nothing like Earth’s zoos and it made them ache for a home destroyed long ago. So they sat down on a small bench and relaxed while they people-watched. Dave spread out on said bench like he always did. What had Rose called it? Manspreading?

            John felt Dave’s arm stretch out behind his head, resting on the top of the bench casually, and he stiffened slightly. “Oh, sorry,” Dave murmured, moving to retract his arm.

            “No!” John blurted out, surprising them both. “N-no, it’s okay, I don’t mind,” he elaborated, cheeks flushing. Dave made a quiet noise in acknowledgment, staying where he was. Truthfully, John didn’t mind, but the relaxed feeling he felt with Dave’s arm against his back was… well, he _did_ mind that.

            They sat quietly for a while, occasionally murmuring about a passerby but falling silent again rather quickly. It was comfortable, the two young men enjoying each other’s company. Then Dave shifted himself once, then again, and then retracted his arm, sitting up and crossing his arms over his chest. His leg began to bounce up and down in agitation.

            “Dave? What’s wrong?” John asked, sitting up as well. They had been relaxing up until this point, and nothing seemed to take place to make Dave so antsy…

            “I dunno, nothing I guess,” Dave replied distractedly, an anxious edge to his tone. John frowned, glancing around their surroundings. He carefully bent the Wind, hoping it might carry noises from far away to him.

            And it did. A gust of Wind blew past his face, carrying the panicked sounds of someone familiar. “Casey?!” the voice of Roxy called, though the sound was faint. “Casey, where are you?!” Even fainter were the voices of Calliope and Jane, presumably calling out for Casey as well.

            John shot to his feet instantly, and Dave did not hesitate to follow. “Casey’s missing!” John called, already floating off the ground to fly towards the sound of his friends’ voices. Before he could take off, the black haired man’s shirt was grabbed and he was tugged back down to the ground. “Dave, what the fuck are you doing?!” John cried.

            “I’m just as freaked as you, but if we fly around the zoo we are going to freak people out,” Dave explained quietly, glancing around to see if anyone had seen John’s feet leave the ground. “We just have to run.”

            Impatient, John grabbed the blonde by the hand and ran in the general direction of where the Wind had come from, subtly using said Wind to propel them faster in a way he was sure Dave could feel. Idly, he wondered if it would just be faster for Dave to flashstep, but they stumbled upon the girls before he could say anything about it.

            “John! Dave!” Roxy called, jogging to meet them halfway. “We can’t-”

            “-find Casey, I know. Where was the last place you saw her?” John demanded.

            “Right here! She was in her stroller one moment, we turned around to look at… oh, I don’t even know what we were looking at! But when we turned back she was gone!” Jane explained, tears already rolling down her cheeks. “Oh John, I-I’m so sorry, you must be furious with me!” she sniffled. John put a hand on her shoulder.

            “I’m not mad at you, Jane, but I really _really_ don’t have time to console you. We need to find her quickly,” John replied, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly before turning to Dave. Dave was scanning their surroundings, trying to see a mop of blonde hair or piercing blue eyes or even the pale yellow of her dress.

            “Can you use the same Windy Thing trick you used to hear the girls and find Casey?” Dave asked. John bit his lip.

            “I can try,” he mumbled, closing his eyes to concentrate. The Wind started out gently blowing sounds to him, but nothing relevant. He furrowed his brows and tried harder, the Wind picking up and whipping their clothes about. He could hear the sounds of children, but none of them were _his_ child. He grit his teeth and the Wind grew stronger, and then-

            Dave grabbed his hand gently, breaking John’s concentration. The Wind died down almost instantly, and the trolls and humans in the area looked around bewildered at the harsh breeze that had stopped as suddenly as it began. “If you kept that up, you might have summoned a tornado,” Dave smiled in what he hoped looked like reassurance, but the smile was too tight and his hand trembled in John’s just enough to clue him in to the red eyed man’s apprehension.

            “The Wind can’t bring me her sounds if she’s not making any sound,” John explained miserably, shoulders slumping.

            “Maybe we can split up to cover more ground? We’re sure to find her that way!” Calliope suggested, wringing her hands nervously.

            “No need for that,” an extra voice piped up. They turned to see another Dave, wearing the same thing current Dave was wearing. He glanced down at their intertwined hands and raised an eyebrow, and they pulled apart quickly, cheeks burning in embarrassment.

            “Took you long enough, douchebag,” Dave hissed.

            “I had to take care of something before I went back,” the Dave from the near future snapped back. He opened his mouth to say more, but then glanced at John and decided against, his own cheeks turning pink. This time it was present Dave’s turn to raise an eyebrow, but the future Dave waved him off.

            “Where is she? Did you find her??” John inquired. “Or, did _we_ find her? _Do_ we find her? _Will_ we find her?” he frowned and grumbled to himself, “I literally hate time shenanigans so fucking much…”

            “She’s napping in the Capybara enclosure,” future Dave answered. He fist bumped Dave and summoned his time tables, and in a flash of red he had disappeared as quickly as he appeared.

            John and Dave took off running for the Capybara enclosure. A jadeblood troll was already there, peering into the area with a smile. When he saw them running towards him, he smiled wider. “Is that your wriggler?” he asked, pointing into the area. Sure enough, the Capybara laid there casually dozing off, and sleeping against him was Casey.

            “How did she get in?” Dave inquired, and while the jadeblood focused on him John flew over the cage to retrieve the little blonde.

            “Oh, well, I let her in. The big hamster-” the jadeblood checked the sign, “-Capybara, is completely harmless. He is shaped like a moirail,” he explained. John landed back on their side, holding Casey still asleep in his arms.

            “Just be glad she’s okay, or I would have ended you,” John growled darkly. The troll looked from the black haired man to the locked gate, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

            “Quick question, what the fuck?” the troll asked, bewildered. No one answered him, Dave crowding into John’s space to check on Casey. She turned in John’s arm, nuzzling against Dave’s chest and sighing softly in her sleep. Dave echoed her sigh in relief, his breath ruffling John’s hair with his proximity. John lifted his head, a bit startled at the sensation, and their noses bumped slightly.

            “Oh…” John murmured quietly, taking in just how close his face was to the Strider’s. Dave’s red eyes were wide, and his face was quickly becoming flushed red, all the way to the tips of his ears.

            “Uh, Dave?” Roxy spoke up, and Dave stepped back quickly, wide eyes turning to the three girls they had forgotten were watching them. “Dave, you gotta go back and tell past us where Casey is,” she reminded him. Dave gave a stunned nod.

            “Yeah, I- yeah, you’re right, I should go,” he agreed. He opened his mouth to say something more to John, then decided against it with a shake of his head and summoned his time tables, disappearing in a flash of red.

            “Am I on drugs?” the jadeblood spoke up with panic in his tone, staring at the spot Dave had just been in. Calliope and Jane went to talk him down while Roxy and John got Casey back in her stroller.

            “It’s my fault we lost Casey,” Roxy admitted quietly. “We were talking about if… well, _when_ we have a kid of our own. I got us all distracted talking about our own future baby that I almost… your baby could have…” Roxy’s voice wavered. John smiled reassuringly at her, placing a firm hand on her trembling one.

            “You Strilondes are so emotional,” he chuckled. “She’s okay, and that’s all that matters. What happened, happened, and everything turned out alright. So you don’t have to worry about me being upset with you or Jane or Calliope, okay?” John reiterated gently.

            “But what about Dave? We told him to trust us with Casey, and then we _lost_ her. What if he doesn’t trust us anymore? What if he doesn’t trust _me_? What if he _hates me_??” She conjured up scenarios anxiously.

            “Aw, Rox, you know I could never hate you,” Dave interjected, kneeling on Roxy’s other side. “You’re like the big sis I never had, you know that; I love you too much to let something like this come between us,” he grinned, draping an arm across her shoulder.

            “Promise you’re not mad?” Roxy whispered, biting her lip.

            “I swear on Snoop Dogg’s metaphorical grave,” Dave confirmed, placing a kiss to the Lalonde’s forehead.

            “Well! Now that we have averted a troll’s mental breakdown, I think we’ve had enough of an adventure to last us a while, right? Let’s go home,” Jane announced as she and Calliope approached. They all voiced their agreements, gathering up their things and finding their way to the zoo’s exit.

            John let Dave push the stroller, lingering behind the group with Jane. “I’m not upset with you, Jane. You know that, right?” John mentioned. Jane let out a derisive snort.

            “You don’t have to _lie_ , John, I know you’re furious,” she muttered bitterly.

            “No, I’m really not. I think of you as my older sister, just as much as Dave sees Roxy as his. And you helped us sort things out when Casey was first born! I know you would _never_ do anything to hurt her. All that matters to me is that she’s safe,” John explained. He nudged her lightly with a smile. “Besides, you know I could never be mad at my wonderful, beautiful Big Sissy,” he teased.

            “Aw, stop it you big sweetalkin’ goofball!” Jane laughed, shoving him back. “I’m cooking dinner tonight, who’s coming?” She called to the rest of the group.

            “Better question: who _isn’t_ coming?” Dave answered back immediately.

            “Dave has a point; when do we _not_ come to dinner when you’re cooking?” Roxy added, shooting a grin back at the black haired pair.

            “I can’t believe Dave is hungry after all the food I bought him earlier!” John jeered playfully.

            “Yo fuck off, I’m a growing boy!” Dave shot back, reaching behind his back to give John the middle finger.

            “Dave, sweetie, you’re done growing by now,” Jane corrected him.

            “It’s not called growing anymore, it’s called being a pig,” John added.

            “Do you hear how he verbally abuses me? What a way to treat his baby mama!” Dave huffed, smirking slightly when everyone laughed except John.

            “Daaaaave, you said you wouldn’t say that shit anymore!” John whined.

            “I made no promises, Papi~!” Dave sang back. John’s loud frustrated groan mixed with his friends’ laughter as they left the zoo, heading towards Jane’s house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, I don't know how good this chapter is. Honestly, I've been a lot less confident in my work lately, so I don't know if its truly weak writing or if I'm viewing it harshly because its my work.
> 
> that being said, SO MUCH FOR SLOW BURN, RIGHT??? I'm definitely kickstarting the romance here, though I intend for it to go on for a while longer before they ACTUALLY get together. I have at the very least 6 more chapters, and they all involve some drama. (I kinda noticed there's almost as much drama as there is fluff in this fic, but I can't really control it?? the fic would be boring if I tried to keep drama out in my opinion)
> 
> next chapter shouldn't really be that dramatic though. a new character get introduced! And in a few chapters (maybe two?) there will be a birthday chapter for John, which means it probably comes very late (or early, depending on how you look at it), but I have to put the next chapter before the birthday chapter. For..... reasons.
> 
> last thing! The jadeblood troll's working name is "Kaapee Barrah", and he too is shaped like a friend. I mean, moirail.


	7. First Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John has been trying to get Casey to say 'Papa' all day when she finally utters her very first word. To his dismay, her first word is _not_ "Papa", or even "Daddy" for that matter. Dave helps John come to terms with his disappointment. Also introducing Karkat!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild Karkat appears!
> 
> I've mapped out the next few chapters, so this has been in the works for a while now! I didn't expect it to come out like it did (see also: so dramatically lol) but I like how it turned out!
> 
> Everyone is really great with Casey lol but I definitely wanted Karkat and Calliope to both be especially great with her, since Calliope is such a sweetheart but has fears of looking too "scary", and Karkat is a shouty grump but is secretly really caring and gentle.
> 
> And also some more tender moments with John and Dave!
> 
> Anyways, enjoy~!

            John stretched out his hand to reach his phone, where a Snapchat notification from Dave sat waiting for him. He opened it and found a picture of Dave pretending to eat a stone relic they've excavated. Behind him is a blurred Karkat, seemingly screaming in an attempt to stop Dave. The caption says "karkat is an idiot and thinks i vore ancient rocks".

            John snorted quietly to himself and sent a picture of Casey sitting on the couch and holding her stuffed bunny. He captioned it "trying to get casey to say 'papa'! no luck yet" and sent it to the other man before dropping his phone. "Casey, say 'Papa'!" he urged. Casey looked at him curiously. "Can you say 'Papa'?" he asked, feeling only a little bit stupid for talking so oddly. He pointed to himself and said it slowly, "Pa. Pa. Now you try! Pa. Pa." Casey blew a raspberry at him instead and spoke gibberish as she offered him her stuffed bunny. "No thanks," he sighed as he handed it back to her.

            Another Snapchat notification sounded; Dave, once again. He opened it and found a picture of Dave with his arm slung around Karkat, standing in front of a very familiar house.... the caption read "unlock the door fuckface", and John rolled his eyes and laughed as he went to unlock the door for his two friends.

            "Finally!" Karkat shouted, weaving past John. "We've been standing outside for the past fucking human _decade_ now!" he added, throwing up his arms. John leveled Dave with an unamused face.

            "You forgot your key again, didn't you?" he guessed. Dave only shot him a sheepish grin in reply as he nudged past the brunette, immediately making a beeline for Casey. He picked her up and swung her around, listening to her squeal of delight before he settled down.

            "Daddy's home, Case-adilla! Were you good for Papa while I was gone?" Dave asked the little blonde. She babbled back in baby talk, papping his face meaningfully. "Is that so?" he replied in a serious voice, nodding his head as if he understood.

            "Did you just call our daughter 'quesadilla'?" John inquired incredulously, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

            "Are you genuinely trying to get your wriggler to call you 'Papa John'?" Karkat added before Dave could reply.

            "It was Dave's idea! How do you know what Papa John even is, anyways?" John said.

            "Dave told me all about your Earth 'pizza'," Karkat stated, shrugging. He pronounced the word phonetically, and John barely resisted the urge to laugh at him. "So your kid is gonna call the two of you 'Daddy Dave' and 'Papa John'? Man, I feel sorry for the little shitsniffer," he commented idly.

            "Fuck you, dude. Anyways, Karkat, this is Casey," Dave introduced. "Casey, this is Karkat," he added, gesturing with the arm not holding her towards Karkat. Casey pointed too.

            "Cat!" she announced. Everyone went silent, staring at her. "Cat!!" she repeated, more urgently as she pointed at him, then made grabby hands.

            "Holy shit, bro. That's her first fuckin' word and its for you," Dave chuckled as he handed the infant off at her insistence. The troll man protested even as he took the baby, holding her awkwardly as she smiled at him and began petting his hair.

            "Does she know I'm actually a troll and not a fucking meowbeast? Genuine question here," Karkat asked her two fathers. Dave snickered, but suddenly noticed John wasn't laughing either. In fact, he hadn't said anything. He had thought the blue eyed man would have started gushing about the baby's first word even more than he did, but he had stayed silent. "John?" he asked, turning to face John fully.

            John had his arms crossed tightly over his chest, looking down at his feet and not even attempting to hide his distress. Dave and Karkat exchanged quick concerned glances, and even if Karkat couldn't fully see Dave's through his shades, the concern still got across to him. "John, is everything okay?" Karkat asked, softer than his usual loud tone of voice, and successfully gained the heir's attention.

            "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, I'm fine! No big deal! Are you staying for dinner? Let me go get it started!" John rushed out before practically bolting for the kitchen. Dave frowned after him before patting Karkat's arm.

            "Can you watch Casey while I go see what's wrong with him? Just let her watch some TV or something, okay? I'll be right back," Dave stated before following the distracted heir into the kitchen. Karkat and Casey exchanged looks of their own.

            "Do you understand what just happened?" Karkat asked her. She babbled back to him in baby talk. "Yeah, didn't think so," he agreed.

 

            John was bustling around the kitchen when Dave entered, not even acknowledging the knight as he stood there waiting for him to speak. Dave watched him impassively for a while, wondering if John would bring it up first, but finally realized he had no choice but to say something himself.

            "What was that out there?" he inquired.

            "What was what?" John dodged the question as he began preparing food for dinner.

            "Don't fuck around with me, Egbert, I _know_ you. You'd think you'd know better than to play dumb with your best fucking friend. I know when something is bothering you. What's wrong?" Dave prompted.

            "Nothing is wrong, Dave! Fuck off!" John snapped.

            "I'm just trying to talk about what's bothering you! Let's talk about our feelings and shit," Dave huffed, crossing his arms sternly. John laughed coldly at him, the sound void of any actual humor.

            "Oh, you want to talk about _feelings_?" he sneered, and Dave said nothing in return, just gave him an impassive stare. John didn't even have to look at him to see it, just the weight of his silence was enough to make the blue eyed man pause what he was doing. "Sorry..." he mumbled, barely loud enough for Dave to hear him.

            "You're getting angry and avoiding what is _really_ bothering you again. I know you, John," Dave stated.

            "I know. I'm sorry," John repeated with a sigh, turning around to face Dave.

            "Tell me what is wrong," the red eyed knight ordered.

            "It's stupid, Dave, I don't want to-" John began to protest.

            "Tell me," Dave repeated. John hesitantly glanced up into Dave's shades. Dave took the unspoken hint and lifted his shades to the top of his head, revealing red eyes filled with genuine worry. John let out a sigh, almost as if he was relieved to see the concern showed was real.

            "I was trying to get Casey to say 'Papa' practically all day today, Dave! I would have been okay if she had said 'Daddy' instead, really, but instead she just says 'cat'. To Karkat, who she literally just met! I've been trying to get her to talk for a month! And her first word was 'cat'," John explained, frustration clear in his voice as he gestured dramatically with his hands.

            Dave nodded thoughtfully, coming up to sling an arm over the brunette's shoulder. "At least it wasn't as bad as mine. My first word was 'dildo'," Dave responded. John burst out in laughter, shaking his head in disbelief. "Nah, bro, I am 100% not lying here, my first word was actually 'dildo'," he confirmed, lips quirking upward at the snorting laughter of the other man. "What was your first word then, Egbert?" he inquired challengingly.

            The heir leaned into the blonde easily with a fond smile on his face, recalling the detail from his early childhood. "It was cake, of course! With how much my dad baked them, it's not surprising," he chuckled. Dave's smile softened, obviously pleased to feel the man against him was relaxed instead of the tense figure he was when Dave first put his arm around him.

            "See? Not 'Dad' or 'Daddy', but 'cake'. And I bet your dad had been trying to teach you for months. But I'm sure he was just as proud of your first word being 'cake' as he would have been if it was anything else," Dave explained. John nodded, then grinned slyly up at the knight.

            "Except if it was 'dildo'," he amended. Dave snickered and nodded.

            " Except if it was 'dildo', I'm sure," he agreed. John glanced back at the entrance to the kitchen, then back to the blonde knight.

            "You should go back out with Karkat and Casey while I get dinner ready," he urged. Dave shook his head until his shades fell off his head and onto his face, though they were a bit crooked.

            "Nah, bro, _you_ go chill with them. I'll cook up some food for once," Dave responded easily, bumping his hip into John's side and making the smaller heir stumble out of the way. "Go see if Karkles is voring our kid or something," he added as he waved John away. John rolled his eyes but obliged with the request.

            Karkat was not, in fact 'voring' their kid. In fact, he sat in front of Casey with her stuffed bunny and a few other stuffed animals. Casey watched him with fascinated wide blue eyes, clearly enraptured in his story.

            Karkat picked up the stuffed bunny and put on a high pitched voice and he wiggled the bunny slightly to indicate it was the bunny who was 'speaking'. " _Excuse me, Mister Dragon, do you know where the secret treasure is? I'd really like to know_!" 'the bunny' asked.

            Karkat narrated, "And the dragon stood up as tall as he could in front of the little bunny," as he picked up a stuffed dragon, adding, "The dragon took a deep breath, and said-" Karkat himself took a deep breath before loudly shouting, " _RAAARRRRGGG_!!!!" as he frantically shook the dragon. Casey squealed in delight as he pulled aside the dragon to add matter-of-factly, "Because, you know. Dragons can't talk."

            John couldn't help but laugh as well, gaining their attention. "What kind of a story is that?" he snorted, coming to sit beside the troll. He shrugged, absently looking down at the stuffed dragon in his hands.

            "I don't fucking know, you just plopped your wriggler in my lap and I thought a story would keep her from screaming and shitting everywhere, or something. And I thought a story where only half the animals could talk would be stupid enough to gain a human wriggler's attention," he frowned, gesturing at Casey as she eagerly waited for him to continue his story. "It worked, didn't it?" he added.

            "Yeah, I guess it did. Uh, listen, sorry for freaking out on you two back there," John mumbled, scratching his cheek awkwardly as he avoided looking at Karkat.

            "Cat!" Casey shouted meaningfully, urging him to keep telling his story. Both men ignored her.

            "I mean, I figured it was some dumbass reaction to her saying "cat" as her first word instead of something like 'Papa' or 'Daddy', right?" Karkat inquired.

            "Cat!" Casey shouted louder, glaring at them for not paying attention to her.

            "Yeah, it was kinda silly, I know. She'll say all that other stuff when she does, and there's no use getting upset about what she decides to say first," he sighed. Casey hit Karkat with her stuffed bunny before he could reply. "Casey! It's not nice to hit others!" John scolded, crossing his arms over his chest sternly.

            "Cat!" Casey retorted back, clearly irritated with them. She proceeded to chew them out in grumpy baby gibberish before crawling off to play with one of her other toys, pointedly turning her back on them.

            Right after, Dave burst into the room. "Who wants pizza?!" he announced, sounding frazzled.

            "What happened to you making dinner?" John asked, tilting his head curiously. Dave glanced back into the kitchen.

            "Uh..... fire. Fire happened," he admitted.

            "What?!" John shrieked, jumping to his feet and rushing into the kitchen.

            "There's not, like, an open flame, Egbert!" Dave protested. "At least, not anymore," he mumbled to himself as an afterthought.

            "Holy shit, Dave, what did you do to the food??" John cried out, poking the charred remains of what Dave attempted to cook with a wooden spoon.

            "Look, I never said I was fucking Gordon Ramsey, alright?! I'm an okay cook sometimes, and this was not one of those times!" Dave snapped. The two bickered in the kitchen as Casey and Karkat listened before exchanging looks.

            "So are you gonna order the pizza or should I?" Karkat asked the little blonde.

            "Cat," she replied simply.

            "Yeah, that's a fair point," Karkat agreed. She offered him a toy cellphone. "No thanks, I have my own," he declined as he held up his real cellphone. Casey shrugged and went about her business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karkat's stuffed animal story is actually a story my dad used to tell me, only my dad didn't use stuffed animals to tell it. In his story, all the other creatures could talk _except_ the dragon. My dad would take a deep breath, pause, then roar, then say "because. dragons can't talk." There would be all these shenanigans to translate the dragon or have him write down what he was saying, but it would all conclude with a roar and "because. dragons can't talk." My siblings and I would die laughing at the story and I just thought Karkat telling the story to Casey would be hilarious and adorable. I hope y'all feel the same??
> 
> I love having these characters respond to Casey's baby talk as if they understand when they?? Really fucking don't. And the only character I can see not doing this is Kanaya, honestly, who won't be introduced for a while. Maybe also Vriska? But I don't know if I'm going to have Vriska running around in this fic..... we will see.
> 
> I'm trying not to be over the top about the tender Johndave moments, but I also want to make sure you don't forget THESE BOYS ARE IN LOVE even if they don't even know it themselves yet lmfao
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one is gonna have Karkat again AND a new character! I can't tell you who, but I can tell you they will be extremely helpful for the next chapter's main theme lol


	8. Too Far For Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave goes back home, and John and Casey have to struggle with not having him in the house, finding the distance between them is too far for them to bear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a short chapter as a pre-cursor to next chapter.
> 
> John is being kind of a huge brat in this chapter, so that's a thing.

            "It's just for a little while, Egbert!" Dave repeated for what felt like the fiftieth time, tossing another item of clothing into his suitcase.

            "But why do you have to go at all?" John protested.

            "Maybe I just want to spend some time in my own house. Is that so crazy? This has been the world's longest sleepover in the history of all three Earths, dude. If I had moved in, it would be different. All my stuff would be here, including my bed. I haven't slept in a bed by myself for what feelings like a hundred years," Dave rambled. "Plus I always wake up tangled up with you," he snorted.

            John felt his cheeks heat up. "That's- that's not _my_ fault! _You're_ the one who clings to me like a fucking stuffed animal! Are all Striders cuddlers, or just you?" he jeered.

            Dave made a motion with his head to indicate he had rolled his eyes. "I'm not saying I mind, because I really don't. Who cares about getting my cuddle on with my best bro? Except you, apparently. If you wake up before me, you act like a flustered little schoolgirl," Dave retorted.

            "I do not!" John argued.

            "Do too."

            "Do not!"

            "Do too."

            "Do not!!"

            "Hey, guess what?" Dave suddenly interrupted the repetition, "I'm not having this little kindergarten pissbaby fight with you any longer." He grabbed his suitcase and went to the door, stopping only to stoop down to where Casey was playing in the living room and kiss her forehead goodbye. John followed him out the door.

            "Fine, I don't even care. I'm glad to have my house back! If it weren't for Casey, I would tell you to not even come back!" John snapped.

            "You're being an asshole again," Dave huffed, beginning to levitate. "Is this how you're going to let us part ways? In the middle of a fight?" he asked challengingly.

            John crossed his arms defiantly, glaring at the blonde. "You better not forget to video call Casey," he grumbled instead of answering the hovering man.

            John watched Dave's face fall and his shoulders slump, and his anger faltered. "I'll miss you and Casey..." Dave mumbled softly. He searched the brunette's face silently for a moment or too longer, before giving a dejected sigh and flying off.

            John was going to miss him, too.

            Why couldn't he have just said that?? Why did he have to be such a pouty jerk?? Now he was more angry with himself than with Dave. What was _wrong_ with him?

            Casey held out her arms for John when he came back into the house. She was a perceptive little thing, noticing instantly John's scowl, and when he picked her up, she papped his face in concern.

            "It's okay, Casey. Wanna watch a movie?" John asked, taking her over to his movie collection and letting her pick. She grabbed one of Dave's favorite movies and babbled at John, then looked over his shoulder expectantly.

            Casey made an inquisitive noise, looking from John to the door and back again. She pointed at the door and looked to John, spouting gibberish that sounded like demands, as if she was ordering John, ' _bring me my daddy Dave_!'

            "Daddy's going on a trip and won't be home for a while, okay? We'll just have to have fun without him!" John tried to sound reassuring, but now Casey was looking alarmed. She patted John's chest urgently, looking frantically from him to the door. "It's just for a little while, Casey!" John recited, trying to calm her down, but she wasn't having it. "Daddy will be back soon! He'll only be gone for a little while!" he tried to convince her.

            It was as if the only word the little blonde had heard was 'gone', because she began to outright _scream_ for Dave, tears streaming down her chubby cheeks. John hugged her and bounced her gently in an effort to calm her, but she only calmed once she had cried herself to sleep.

            It was _horrible_. John hadn't felt that helpless in a long time. Was this how it was going to be every day until Dave returned? He wouldn't be able to handle it, seeing her that upset. Would Dave come back sooner if John asked him to? If it was for Casey? With how he let Dave leave, he was unsure.

            Casey was more calm when she awoke from her unprompted nap, still being held in John's arms while he watched the movie she had picked out. The two of them watched the movie together in silence, so when John's phone went off, the sudden noise made them both jump.

            Dave's face popped up on the small screen as soon as John answered. "Case-adilla!" He called happily, and Casey perked up instantly. She snatched the phone from John's hands, squealing happily. The two of them talked for close to an hour. Dave gave her a digital tour of his dusty, unused house, rambling on about little things while Casey listened, enraptured. He stayed on the video chat with her while she drank her nighttime bottle, and reluctantly said goodnight when John announced it was her bedtime.

            "Dave?" John called uncertainly right before the blonde hung up. Dave hesitated, making a noise of acknowledgement. "I'll miss you too." Dave gave him a rare, dazzling smile and wished him goodnight.

 

            It was only a week later when Dave called to announce he was packing up and flying back to John's house. "I miss you guys too much to be gone for any longer," he admitted.

            John tried to make his voice sound stern, and not desperate like he truly felt, when he replied, "good, and you better be bringing all your shit with you! You're moving!"

            Dave looked taken aback. "What, really? You mean that?" he asked.

            "Of course I mean it, dunkass! I'll have to get Jade to use her space powers to expand the house, but it was too hard to be away from you," he explained, then amended quickly, "for Casey, that is!" Dave laughed incredulously at John's flustered expression and pink cheeks.

            "All right, I'll see her soon. And you, too," he teased before hanging up. The blank screen reflected John's embarrassed face back to him, and he tossed it down and covered his face with his hands, groaning.

            ....... Still, he couldn't wait for Dave to come back. He wondered if he couldn't persuade him to use his time powers and speed up his journey...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter, moving day! introducing our favorite witch of space, Jade!
> 
> I didn't want to write out Dave moving in without showing what makes them decide Dave should move in, ya know?
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed!


End file.
